


Warmth

by orphan_account



Category: Firebringer - Team StarKid
Genre: Comfort, F/F, Fluff, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-07
Updated: 2017-08-07
Packaged: 2018-12-12 05:15:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11730252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: That Zazzalil is so afraid of showing her vulnerability is what has made Keeri fall in love with her, over and over again.





	Warmth

There is a strange kind of chill in the air, because two days ago something white and cold started drifting from the sky, and Keeri… does not like it. Well, she does, because Chorn had shown them that this thing – this snow – could be rolled up into hardened spheres and chucked at the nearest person. So she and Zazzalil had a good fifteen minutes to try out that new discovery before they fell into each other’s arms, laughing and shivering, and Jemilla had reminded them that the huts weren’t finished.

And now that they _were_ finished, Keeri finds that they are a lot better against this cold than the cave would have been, but not by much. They still stink, and Jemilla won’t let them burn the fires at night because _everyone_ remembers Zazzalil’s little fuck up. Nobody wants to burn down an entire village again, least of all Keeri. She’s also not insanely happy about having to share a hut with Smelly Balls and Schwoopsie, and the fact that they’re laying on the furs of all the mammoths that Keeri killed makes her far too sad. She rolls over and tries to think of giant sloths with adorable human faces, but sleep is proving to be elusive for the second night in a row, so she sighs and gets up.

Jemilla doesn’t want them to be outside after nightfall; Snarl is just a memory now but they all know there are other terrifying animals lurking in the dark. But the moon is high and bright, and Keeri thinks she’ll be all right as long as she stays within feet of the huts. She sits with her legs folded up and her elbows resting on her knees, and stares up at those…. She doesn’t even know what.

She finds herself thinking about Zazz, and how glad she is that the tribe is back together. They’ve even managed to make friends with the Neanderthals, except that Clark really doesn’t like Zazz. That makes Keeri angry, because sure, Zazzalil can be really stupid, but… she’s Keeri’s Really Stupid. And when someone hurts Zazz they hurt Keeri. Now that everything is okay again, it’s almost like Keeri and Zazz are back to being the package deal they used to be.

Except now Jemilla and Zazz are married. Really though, that’s only weird to Jemilla and Zazz. Anybody in the tribe would’ve told the two of them that it was only a matter of time before they got their collective heads out of their asses and realized they love each other. They really do, too. Keeri loves to see Zazz’s eyes light up when Jemilla agrees with one of her ideas, and she loves it when Jemilla decides to let everyone take a break because she’s so desperate to make Zazz happy.

It’s just that… well, Keeri misses Zazz. They used to curl up together in the cave to find warmth, and Keeri can’t stop replaying the kiss that Zazzalil gave her before she ran off on her own into the black of night. Only now Zazzalil has her hut with Jemilla, and most of her days are spent huddling with the leader of her tribe – her wife – to figure out what’s best for them. Keeri’s never really jealous of that; she wants Zazz and Jemilla to be happy, and she wants her friends to be safe.

But it’s… a little lonely. It’s been Keeri and Zazzalil for so long she’s not sure how to go back to being just Keeri. And when Zazzalil was being dumb it was easy for Keeri to follow Jemilla. After all, Jemilla is smart and cares about all of them, _and_ she’s super pretty. Keeri can easily see what Zazzalil sees in her. She can see it herself, and without thinking about it too hard.

Thinking isn’t much of Keeri’s strong point. Just looking at people and caring for them, innately? That’s what she does. Which makes it hard to sleep when she’s stuck in a hut with a guy whose balls smell and a girl who snores. ‘cause Keeri would much rather be in another hut, but she knows that’s not how things work.

The ground around her gets colder; the white stuff has seeped into her clothes and made them wet, but even though she’s shivering even more now, Keeri doesn’t move.

That’s when she hears it, and her body tenses. Whispering.

_You talk to her._

_I don’t know what to say!_

_What, like I do?!_

Keeri relaxes, but only a little. She knows those voices better than she knows her own, really.

_You’re her best friend!_

_Okay, how… how about we both talk to her?_

_Okay. Okay, fine._

“Neither of you have to talk to me, you know,” she says with a smile, and is rewarded with a huff when Zazz and Jemilla plonk down on either side of her.

“It is freezing out here,” Zazz says, and drapes her arm over Keeri’s shoulders. “What are you doing?”

Keeri shrugs. She finds herself nestling that little bit much closer to Zazz; she tells herself it’s just for body warmth. She’s surprised when she feels Jemilla’s arm snake around her waist, and soon she’s sandwiched in between the two women.

“You can’t be out here, Keeri,” Jemilla says, ever their leader. “It isn’t safe.”

“Sure it is. You and Zazzalil are here, aren’t you?”

“We’ll protect you,” Zazzalil declares, and the determination in her voice makes Keeri giggle a little. And ache, too, because it’s never _I_ anymore for Zazzalil, it’s just _we_. Zazzalil and Jemilla. _We_ used to mean Zazzalil and Keeri… not now though.

But that’s okay. She wants Zazzalil to be happy, and Jemilla deserves it too. They both deserve everything Keeri can never give them. She rests her chin on her knees at the thought.

“Hey.” Jemilla’s worry cuts through the night. “Keeri, what’s going on? Schwoopsie said she heard you crying last night.”

“Oh, no,” Keeri says. “I didn’t mean to wake her.”

“That’s not the point.”

Zazzalil’s voice is a little sharp with the concern, but it’s never bothered Keeri. That’s Zazzalil, all edges tinged with softness. She projects an aura of being selfish – and a few times she really was – but usually she’s tender behind all the sarcasm. That Zazzalil is so afraid of showing her vulnerability is what has made Keeri fall in love with her, over and over again.

“I’m just a little… silly. It’s just silly.”

“How you feel is never silly, Keeri.”

And that, Jemilla’s quiet, firm validation, is what has made Keeri fall in love with _her_. That shouldn’t be possible, though she knows Jemilla has had multiple husbands and wives. But even though loving more than one person might be possible, Keeri knows that Jemilla _and_ Zazzalil loving her… is completely impossible.

She says it anyway.

“The hut is lonely. I’d rather be with you.” She looks at Zazzalil.

“And you.” She looks at Jemilla, then out into the sky.

The air is still, except for a bit of rushing wind.

Then, “You owe me five nuts.”

“Keeri and I will find them tomorrow.”

“Yeah, you better, babe.”

Keeri feels a slightly-chilled hand under her chin, pulling her face toward Zazzalil, who grins, just before she leans over and kisses Keeri softly.

“Remember when I said that I didn’t care if anybody else in the tribe died, but not you?”

“… yeah.”

“Yeah.” Zazzalil traces the line of Keeri’s cheek with her fingers. In the moonlight, her knowing smile makes Keeri feel a little embarrassed, but hopeful.

“I still mean it.”

There’s another hand at the back of Keeri’s head, and she looks at Jemilla, who has the same smile as Zazzalil. She presses her lips to Keeri’s, and Keeri lets out a small _oof_ of surprise. Jemilla doesn’t say anything; she only just pulls back, and Keeri has the sudden realization of, maybe she’s been wrong about this all along.

Zazzalil stands up then, and reaches her hands down to both Jemilla and Keeri. “We got a lot to do to work it out,” she says in a sing-song voice, and Keeri laughs. “But I think we can do that after a good night’s sleep?”

Jemilla is the second to get up off the cold ground, and she uses her leverage to haul Keeri to her feet. Keeri crashes into both Zazzalil and Jemilla, who envelop her in the warmest hug she’s ever felt. She feels their arms all around her, and their lips on hers in turn.

She is, she thinks, loved.

“Wait,” she says as the two other women tug her toward their hut, and Jemilla and Zazzalil hesitate, casting worried glances at each other.

“Did you two make a _bet_ about this?”

“Uh… nope.”

“It was Zazzalil’s idea.”

“Hey!”

She shakes her head and allows herself to be pulled into the hut. Keeri is pushed onto the furs, still warm from Zazzalil and Jemilla, and smiles when Jemilla curls up against her front and Zazzalil wraps her arms around Keeri from behind, grasping for Jemilla’s hand.

She and Zazzalil will go hunting for nuts tomorrow for Jemilla, Keeri decides as her eyes begin to drift closed.

Zazzalil will just have to tell her which ones are actually nuts.

 


End file.
